Twenty six-year-old Mehmoon Khan managed to save her children’s lives by not locking her house that fateful morning on Tuesday. Khan, who told the police later on that she locked her four children in her home every day before she went to work. But today she didn’t  and as a result, her childrens’ lives were saved.    “I was at work when one of my neighbours informed me about the fire. I rushed to the slum area and saw flames blazing throughout the entire area. I started to panic because my kids were inside the house,” said Khan.

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Khan called up her husband Md. Saleem and informed him about the incident. She ran home desperately in a bid to find her children. And thankfully, she was informed that because she had not locked the door, her neighbours had been able to rescue her children.

“I have four small kids so every day I lock them and go to work. But today I was unable to find the keys in the morning so I just latched the door and went. I am really thankful to the neighbours for saving my kids. Things could have been worse if I had locked them,” Khan added.

Khan may be grateful that her children are still alove but she and hundreds of other locals, living in these shanties, face a bleak Diwali. Burnt through, these residents are now homeless. And even though relief operations have begun, residents claim that everything they had is gone.

“I just had my delivery last month and everyone in our family was so excited about our daughter’s first Diwali. I had started decorating the entire room with all the money I had saved. Everything has been gutted, now I do not have a shelter for my daughter,” sobbed Shazana Khatan.

Residents claim a similar incident had happened in 2014, and no compensation was given to them. They say they rebuilt the area on their own with no government help. 

“I had built this slum on my own after it was gutted in a similar fashion in 2014. The government only promise things but nothing is ever done. We can just hope for the best. I do not know where I am going to take my family,” said Md Anwar.

PREVIOUS INCIDENT

  • In 2014, three children had died in a fire in a slum cluster at Dhobi Ghat in Jamia Nagar.
  • A short circuit on an electric pole had sparked the fire, and the flames had fallen onto the hut of a rickshaw puller. The fire spread, gutting the small dwelling completely.